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Book Reviews

Jewell Parker Rhodes tells the story of almost 10 year old Maddy. The youngest of five girls, it is her turn to stay with her grandmother "down south". She is mesmerized by the New Orlean magic of food, people and culture. But when an oil leak spills into the waters and threatens the beautiful bayou she has come to love, she has to learn a lesson in pollution and has to decide quickly whether she has what it takes to help such a dire situation

Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern live with their father in New York. Their mother took off for California when Fern was just a baby. Now, six years later, the three sisters are going to California to visit the mother they barely know. When they get to Oakland, they figure out the woman who refers to herself as Nzila is not exactly mother. In the mornings she sends them to the free breakfast program ran by the black panthers. Here, they learn all about Black Power, black pride and standing up to "the man". This is a wonderful coming of age story about 3 sisters growing up during the late 60's

Delphine, Vonetta and Fern (Afua) are back with their dad in Brooklyn. But, surprise! Some changes have been happening while they were away visiting their mother in Oakland. Dad has a girlfriend who he is planning to marry is the main change and the girls are unsure how they feel about that.

Delphine, Vonetta and Fern are going back to their roots. This summer they are off to visit their grandmother, Big Ma and her mother Ma Charles in Alabama. Not only does Delphine learn surprising things about her family history, when tragedy strikes, she learns the importance of family bond.

It’s 1969, and half-black, half-Japanese Mimi and her family have just moved to a predominantly white town in Vermont. She struggles to fit in with her classmates, teachers, and neighbors, but Mimi has a dream of becoming an astronaut some day. So she follows her heart and enters science competitions. Told in verse, Full Cicada Moon is an important novel that accurately describes the angst that comes along with fitting in. It also teaches the importance of standing up for yourself and ultimately doing what makes you happy.

When Toswiah's father police officer father testifies against a fellow officer, the entire family must change their identities and move to a different city...and this is just the beginning of the story...

Sugar is the story of a girl who works in the sugar cane fields post slavery. With everyone fleeing North after emancipation, Chinese workers have to be brought in to help with the labor. Sugar, named after the sugar cane they are harvesting, forms unlikely friendships and learns new cultures as she shares her own culture with others that are different from her. Phenomenal read.

It's been four years since his mom died, and ten-year-old Bud Caldwell takes off from his third foster home in search of a better way to live his life. He's sick of being an orphan: unwanted, unloved, and all alone. On his own, he finds out how rough it is in Michigan in 1936, during the Great Depression. He meets many kind people along the way who help him complete his most awesome quest: to find the man that he thinks is his father. He's looking for a guy whose picture was on some old flyers for jazz concerts his mother kept around their house, so he doesn't have too much to go on. Oh, and did we mention that Bud is looking for a place to finally call home? Sounds pretty tough, right?​Bud doesn't think so.

Did you read Bud, Not Buddy? Well here is the sequel, The Mighty Miss Malone. Deza 'a dad has been laid off during the Great Depression and must travel out of town to look for work. The story follows Deza's family as they search for their father, traveling from Gary, Indiana all the way to Hooverville, right outside of Flint, Michigan.

Jewell Parker Rhodes...*swoons*...she has found a way to write stories that allow young adults to process difficult events in contemporary history while learning compassion and empathy. Ninth Ward is about one girls experience living through the Katrina flooding.

The Seeds of America trilogy stars Isabel, a teenaged slave. In the first book, Chains, she is enslaved by a loyalist Manhattan family, the Locktons. She lives and works there with her sister Ruth and is treated cruelty by Mrs Lockton. Although her freedom was promised by her former owner, she finds it hard to trust this will actually happen and contemplates running away. If you're a historical fiction fanatic like me, this series will draw you in until you finish the entire series.

In the second book, in the Seeds of America trilogy, Isabel has escaped and has joined up with Curzon. The two become spies for the revolutionaries during the American Revolution. This book follows them as they attempt to avoid being caught and survive the harsh winter conditions at Valley forge. Although this is touted as a middle grades series, teens and adults would still enjoy the historical accuracy of the series.

Three years later, Isabel and Curzon have escaped Valley Forge, and slavery and as runaway slaves, have walked the 1,000 miles from Pennsylvania to Virginia. They finally find Isabel's sister Ruth, but she isn't so happy to see them...find out why in the last book of the series

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is probably the most popular book of the Logan series. Book # 4 details Cassie's experiences with racism in Mississippi. Although her parents and other elders try to gently explain that this is just the way things are, Cassie is bothered by the unfair treatment of black people. When her Mama organizes a boycott of the Wallace's general store to protest racism and the brutal treatment of their friends, and Papa return home and begins leading the boycott, severe consequences occur.

Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern live with their father in New York. Their mother took off for California when Fern was just a baby. Now, six years later, the three sisters are going to California to visit the mother they barely know. When they get to Oakland, they figure out the woman who refers to herself as Nzila is not exactly mother. In the mornings she sends them to the free breakfast program ran by the black panthers. Here, they learn all about Black Power, black pride and standing up to "the man". This is a wonderful coming of age story about 3 sisters growing up during the late 60's